Movement

Focus on the now

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Buddists and other meditators claim that there is no past, no future, only now. Yet we spend most of our time ignoring whats in front of us and instead thinking about what has been or what might be, not being in our heads and focusing on the immediate task. This is not to say that planning (an almost unique skill in humans) is not vital, as otherwise we would be wasting ourselves spinning in circles watching a small screen, but this long term plan has to be combined with appropriate action now.

From a movement perspective, when coaching clients in new patterns, I use 2 key words  as triggers. Attention and Intention. What is the attention on and what is the intention. For example, moving the shoulder joint, the attention is on the joint, the way it feels and glides, while the intention is that the arm should move slowly and under control at all times. Many find this very hard to do as the mind tends to rebel against focusing on just one thing. The same is with running, the attention cannot be on the whole activity, as  we cannot cope with such input, but instead on just feeling the push off, or the chest postion, or another skill.

A five minute challenge, when moving next time, ask yourself: Where is my attention? What is my intention? Not just in a movement pattern but when working as well, it may provide some interesting results.

What Physios don’t want you to know

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And osteopaths, chiropractors or any other manual therapist.

Unless they are making special claims for their technique,  which they can back up with evidence,  the truth of the matter is that all manual therapies are doing one of three things-

  • Breaking down adhesions, scar tissue and restrictions, whether in fascia, muscle or connective tissue
  • Resetting the joint position sense and neural signalling around the affected area
  • Improving fluid flow and drainage of the tissue.

That’s it, that’s all we do. However, the reason you need to keep a good osteopath or physiotherapist on speed dial is because the real trick is knowing which one needs to be done, what tools and techniques should be used when, how and where, as the true cause of the problem may not be at the place it hurts.

One classic example of this, that many have suffered from and lots fail to treat effectively,  is plantar fasciitis. The too familiar pain lancing into the sole of your foot when you first stand up, it is caused by inflammation and microtearing in the fibrous tissue running along the foot, generally near the heel. Traditional treatment is to brace, stretch and possibly inject cortisone, all of which take time and often fail to address the question why it failed in the first place.

A better complete approach, using the above concept,  is to not just treat the foot locally,  but look away for restrictions and signalling issues elsewhere as well. Only then,  once the underlying issue is addressed,  can real recovery and progress be made.

Gym free exercise of the day.

2 minutes breathing practice while swinging arms and legs to open the joints.

3 X 30 seconds skipping on the spot, imagining a rope if space / equipment restricts.

5 x 1 minute Burpee superman interupt. 30 secs recovery between sets.

Squat down, thrust legs back to pressup position,  lower your chest to the floor then take hands up above the head to full extension. Raise opposite hand and leg off the floor. Repeat for the other side, then hands to chest, push up, legs back in to squat position and jump up.

2 minute breathing practice, with stretching.

Notes-

The objective of the warmup is to check and prepare joints for range of motion,  followed by getting the cardiorespiratory system ready.

The core of the workout is to get every muscle in the body firing to stimulate a high level of intensity. By lifting the arms and legs off the ground,  you break the fascial tension that can be used as a spring rebound mechanism,  so it becomes harder.

Scaling if you are unable to do burpees or pressups would be 3 standing air squats with a pause at the bottom, followed by 3 kneeling pressups with hand / leg lift. If the pressups are still too challenging,  wall pressups (pushing off the wall) followed by arm / leg extensions. If in doubt, try the one you think you might fail at to push yourself.

Breathe the pressure

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Come play my game, I’ll test ya…

Prodigy – Breathe

So sang the Prodigy and even if Keith Flint seems more than a little bit crazy, he perhaps has a point. 

Even under pressure, we still have control over our breathing. Very often, when stressed, we tend to hold our breath slightly, the effect of which is to change to vital gas balance in our blood stream. 

Respiration is one of the only autonomic functions over which we can have conscious control, and also the one that has the most profound effect on our physiology and mental state.

With controlled breathing comes situational control, the ability to mentally step back, assess the problem, be it a run, workout or stressful issue at work and regain focus. 

One of the fastest ways to control your breath under load is wheel breathing, where you follow an inhale / exhale cycle as though blowing a wheel around, no pausing, no flat points. Instead, you consciously become aware of a smooth, slower, deep pattern that starts to bring everything else back under control. 

Even a few cycles mid workout will pay huge dividends, so if in doubt, breathe. 

Why walking in their shoes will give you new insights.

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To understand someone better, it is said that we need to walk a mile in their shoes.

This is perhaps a little extreme but as with many statements, there is a lot of truth buried in there.

Walking in their shoes, or at least picking them up and looking closely at the wear patterns, both inside and out, will tell you much about the person’s interaction with the world. Do they currently have a prescription orthotic, or some form of insole? How has the outsole worn? Are both sides worn in the same way? Can you see the way the foot turns and loads inside the shoe?

By observing and considering the information provided, it can be possible to start gaining a better insight into how the person moves and hence any potential issues they may be adapting for.

If necessary, stand up and attempt to physically mimic their movement, and what leads them to that positioning.

Feeling it in your own body can be an eye opening experience and one that may hugely enhance your own practice.

Here’s why your six pack won’t make you a better runner. 

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Most core exercises are a waste of time. They will not make you a better athlete. In fact, they could be slowing you down and creating injuries. 

Why? Because for athletic performance in any discipline, one of the most important functions is the ability to connect your upper and lower body effectively and efficiently without shortening your front. 

The function of the abdominal muscles is to link upper and lower body, provide stability to the lumbar spine and pull the rib cage down during certain motions. 

A short anterior (front) from too many crunches or planks will reduce your hip mobility, create an unwanted curve in your back and reduce the power you can produce. 

To overcome this, by all means do your stability and integration work, preferably under professional guidance to give dynamic feedback but then lengthen and mobilise the front again (for example cobra stretch or warrior poses if you have no spinal or other issues). 

By having a long and fluid front, to work with a strong back, you’ll be closer to optimising your performance and breaking that PB. 
And of course, if in doubt, seek guidance from an experienced professional. 

Stability and Mobility

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Picture a runner on the track, an image of power ready to be released at every stride. If we were to snapshot them mid activity, we would see that:

  • The foot, as it contacts the ground, needs to provide a stable platform
  • The ankle, resting on the foot, requires dynamic mobility
  • The knee, for optimal power transfer, requires both mobility in the ankle below it and the hip above.
  • The hip, being a joint with a high potential range of motion, should be mobile enough to support the function of the knee below and the pelvis / lumbar spine above.
  • The pelvis and lumbar spine, one of the biggest force transfer areas in the body, needs a high amount of stability.
  • The thorax responds to load and stress by restricting, when a more fluid movement pattern would benefit
  • The scapula, floating over the potentially stiff thorax, becomes unstable as a compensation
  • The shoulder joint itself, due to posture and poor use, will be restricted
  • The lower cervical spine may become unstable as a response to the restriction in the thorax
  • Finally, and balanced on top of the stack, the head and upper cervical spine stiffens.

Looking at the above list (initially drawn from the work of Gray Cook) it is possible to see why, if one area is not functioning as optimally as we might like, the areas around it will adapt their own function to compensate, which can eventually lead to the risk of injury.

As athletes and professional practitioners, we can help reduce this risk by reversing the process with a well considered mobility and strength training plan, allowing us help the areas that don’t move and should, as well as strengthening the unstable zones.

From a practical perspective, it is generally faster and more effective to get a restricted area moving successfully, since it tends to respond more positively, as well as naturally allow the unstable areas to relearn their correct function,

It can therefore be recommended that we focus on:

  • The ankle, using ankle circles, calf stretching and getting any old twists or sprains reset
  • The hip, by stretching the glutes, lengthening the hip flexors and ensuring the joint is well aligned
  • The thorax, needs three dimensions of movement, flexion, sidebending and rotation
  • The shoulder, the most inherently unstable joint in the body, often needs professional assessment to ensure it is not guarding a hidden injury to the joint, and can be helped by improving the function of the internal and external rotation most effectively

By improving the range of motion in these, we can support dynamic development in the rest of the body automatically.

80:20 Revisted

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With the forthcoming release of Dr Kelly Starrett’s new book, I have been reconsidering the advice we tend to offer injured (or preferably non injured) athletes. Dr Starrett (a Phd physical therapist) offers practical and applicable advice on injury prevention and recovery, stating that if you cannot perform basic functions safely (squatting, stretching etc) then you need to sort them out before you try running.

These days, with web access virtually ubiquitous in the western world, there is a surfeit of information available at our fingertips. The difficulty is in discerning what works and what doesn’t. With the rise of athletic “biohackers”, who promote tips and tricks for small percentage improvements, finding the signal amongst the noise is even harder.

For most of us, performance improvement comes down to three simple things.

  • Optimise Nutriton / Diet
  • Train efficiently
  • Recovery / Sleep

Dr Starrett covers much of this in his excellent book Becoming A Supple Leopard and reviews indicate he will cover this in the running guide.

Breaking down the above bullet points, optimising diet means ensuring you eat cleanly and sensibly most of the time, getting a suitable balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, with plenty of micronutrients. Nothing clever or fancy but by not doing this, you are ensuring that your body is not going to operate effectively. This is the base upon which all the others stand, mentally and physically.

The part we all think about is the training aspect. We plan, prepare and put in the hours and miles to attempt to achieve our goals. But are we doing it in the most efficient manner? Could we save time by cutting out junk miles or hours in the gym, since more is not always better. Is there such a thing as a recovery run, or easy workout? Would that time be better spent with friends and family, which might help improve our mental state, or doing mobility work (as described by Dr Starrett)?

This ties in to point 3, recovery and sleep. Do you recover enough? Are you waking refreshed and ready to go each morning without needing an alarm or two? There is no set formula for this since the factors involved in recovery are complex, including external stressors, but by tracking basic biomarkers (resting heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation (SpO2) etc) and personal reflection, we are able to observe how our bodies are responding to the load we place upon them. If your resting heart rate is elevated and your SpO2 depressed then you are simply not recovering from the load. Another simple test is to attempt to create a change in your heart rate during a training session. If during a run or ride, you cannot easily elevate your heart rate by increasing pace or effort, then there is a possibility that you are neurologically as well as physically tired and as such, backing off would be advised.

Some people are beginning to use heart rate variability (HRV) to track their stress and recovery. Like many tools, this gives a view into the workings of the body, in this case the autonomic nervous system, which can be used to explore the effect training or stress is having. Many researchers and doctors have shown that there is a link between low variability and mortality from a number of causes but these are measured using ECG over a long period of time (24 hours), especially after an acute myocardial infarction. Some work is being carried out with regards to the use of HRV to track physiological changes due to stress and training and although this appears to be useful over long term measurements, such that trends can be visible, it appears to be a back up to the other measurements and as such, outside of the 80% rule of most efficient use of resources.

To conclude, eat to meet your nutritional needs, train efficiently and recover effectively. Then start making the 20% changes.

Unlock your potential

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What would happen if you could:

  • Train more effectively
  • Recover faster and more efficiently
  • Heal from injuries quicker
  • Maximise your resilience

It would unleash your performance in every area of your life. You would have more time to spend on relationships, work or play, achieve more when competing and have less noise in your head when the time comes to focus.

The secret? To get out of your own way. Most of us are held back by learned patterns, old injuries and poor habits, trying to do more and more with less and less. Restrictions in one area reduces the body’s capacity to deal with stress in others. A tight hip will shorten your stride and overload the achilles, a stiff upper back will drop your maximal squat, restricted shoulders will limit your press or swim stroke. Mentally, stress at work will reduce your ability to make solid nutritional choices, family concerns will eat into your training mindset, anxiety will limit your performance at competition time.

If you can figure out what is restricting you, then removing those blocks can make huge differences.

Each persons blocks are different. Physically, look first at the ankles, hips and thoracic spine. Any old injuries, scarring or tissue changes (tight, weak, short) can affect the rest of the body in many ways. Can you perform the basic movements (push, pull, bend, squat, lunge etc, cleanly and pain free?)

Another physical issue is not listening when we need to rest, by ignoring the subtle clues in our physiology. Is your resting heart rate elevated, are you feeling more fatigued than normal for this workout, is your nervous system tired? (This can be tested via heart rate variabiity apps and simple biomechanical tests). Are you sleeping sufficiently? Once those areas are cleared, look at specific areas related to your sport or discipline and optimise your strengths and minimise the weaknesses, a process that will take a lifetime of self observation.

Mentally, we are always fighting against the patterns and habits picked up from everyone around us. Fear that we are not training hard enough can lead to overtraining, learning not to listen to the inner voice of weakness during a difficult moment, belief in an internal monologue that tells we are not good enough, often imposed by others, copying or competing with our training companions when we should be backing off.

By reading the cues, listening to ourselves and seeking the support and expertise of professionals, you can unlock your true potential in every domain.

Pain is not normal

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Pain is the body telling you something is wrong. It is driven, as with most things, by only a few factors – Degeneration, disease processes or dysfunction. However, as we age, we tend to normalise it, put it down to getting older, one of those things or to be expected. We are even told this by medical professionals, which reinforces the myth.

Aging happens, it is better than the alternative. Some of the processes of aging are unavoidable but many are not. By attempting to eliminate those triggers we can control, through correction of function and awareness of degeneration, then the pain left is triggered by either a disease process or changes which have already occurred. With the miracles of modern medicine and the bodies inherent desire to heal itself, even the majority of these can be improved with time, patience and external intervention.

Prevention is always better than a cure and the necessary activities to prevent degeneration are all things that we know. Eat a nutritious, well balanced diet, maintain a sensible weight, exercise regularly and moderately including resistance work. Dysfunction can be reduced or prevented by considering the way we use our bodies and becoming aware of our senses more. We are sensory creatures and yet spend so little time in our bodies that we recognise only those signals that are big enough to break through to our conscious awareness.

You do not need to live with pain unless there is a known and unavoidable reason for its presence. Even then, osteopathy and allopathic medicine can both help, together with self driven changes to give you back control. With a good working diagnosis and a plan, the future can look far brighter.

5 points to being pain free:

1) Get a diagnosis of why you have pain. If you don’t understand why, you can’t change the triggers
2) Start a treatment plan that you are actively involved with
3) Get your life patterns in order. Change diet, exercise or other factors that can influence the pain
4) Engage with the pain and take control, mentally and physically
5) Practice mental and physical activities within a pain free framework every day

The Camford Clinic
http://www.the-camford-clinic.co.uk
01420 544408

Focus and goals

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There is no past, no future, only now. Yet we spend most of our time ignoring whats in front of us and instead thinking about what has been or what might be.

I have been reading a selection of books on apparently different themes and they all boil down to that point. From The One Thing to The Way Of the Seal, Change Yourself and even An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth, the crux of the matter is most of the time we aren’t in our heads.

When coaching clients in new movement patterns, I use 2 key words  as triggers. Attention and Intention. What is my attention on and what is my intention. For example, moving the shoulder joint, the attention is on the joint, the way it feels and glides, while my intention is that the arm should move slowly and under control at all times. Many find this very hard to do as the mind tends to rebel against focusing on just one thing.

Several of the books also discuss the importance of routines, or rituals in the morning and evening to create focus points in the day for improved productivity. Again, I relate this to clients and ask them to do their movement exercises when they know they are going to be undisturbed and able to concentrate for a few minutes.

So ask yourself. Where is my attention? What is my intention? Not just in a movement pattern but when working as well, it may for some interesting results.